A variety of carpet cleaners, mops and sweepers are used for cleaning various walking surfaces. A conventional carpet cleaner suffers from at least two drawbacks. First, the carpet cleaner tends to be bulky to accommodate a conventional motor to drive a carpet cleaner head and for housing a large container of a chemical cleaning solution. Second, the carpet cleaner typically is plugged into an electrical outlet via an electrical cord, which restricts movement of the carpet cleaner.
A conventional mop or sweeper also suffers from a number of limitations. The mop or sweeper may employ a chemical cleaning solution in a pre-moistened wipe or as a spray applied from a container attached to the mop or sweeper. However, many consumers disfavor a chemical-based cleaning solution for cleaning walking surfaces due to concerns that the chemicals may be harmful to small children, pets and the like. If water, either heated or in the form of steam, is substituted for the chemical cleaning solution, the mop or sweeper must use an electrical cord plugged into an electrical outlet to heat the water to facilitate cleaning, which severely restricts movement of the mop or sweeper. Likewise, a conventional mop and hot water bucket combination suffers from problems such as progressively dirtier water as the walking surface is mopped. Moreover, the dirty water tends to slosh out of the water bucket as the water bucket is moved about to mop the walking surface.
A floor-cleaning device is needed in the industry, which utilizes a compact, portable power source that enables a user to move the floor-cleaning device easily about a floor during cleaning.